What They Are... And What They Ain’t!

Apostolic Foundations and Apostolic Patterns - Part 4

1/2/1987

Jesus alone is the measuring rod that the Father uses, and the interpretation of all the Gifts and of all the Scriptures.

Jesus is the Standard for the deployment of all the gifts. It’s not His Body unless it has all of His giftedness. What was Jesus like as an apostle? Was He different as a prophet than what we generally see today? (You better believe it!) What kind of evangelist, shepherd (“pastor”), or teacher was He? Jesus alone is the measuring rod that the Father uses, and the interpretation of all the Gifts and of all the Scriptures. It would be a serious mistake to use Paul as our role model for understanding the apostolic. Paul is not the standard of the apostolic; JESUS is the standard. Paul’s life only gives a partial picture of the whole apostolic life of Jesus.

Builders Under the Chief

The role of the apostle is to spearhead a wedge of purpose, which enables the saints to follow and to use their own unique gifts to penetrate into the things of God.

As with our Lord and Chief Apostle, the apostles of God are builders or architects under the Chief.36 Paul described the Corinthian Church as God’s field, God’s building, and Paul described himself as the master builder. “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.”

Paul called himself a master builder. Now that’s a pretty radical statement coming from a man who was not one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb! Paul was a master builder, but not the Master Builder. That’s what an apostle is—a builder of the House.

Without the prophetic insight and apostolic character of men who can SEE and build what exists in the unseen realm, the result is chaos.

When Moses built the dwelling place of God, he did so according to the pattern he had seen.37 This is not to be grasped intellectually, so you’ll have to chew on that one a bit. In order for the House to be built, there must be a builder who can read the blueprints. There must be an architect who can SEE. The masons, carpenters, plumbers, and craftsmen may be the best in the world at their trade, yet without the architekton’s vision and service to the saints, they’ll be unable to build toward a unified habitation of God which is joined and knit together. The role of the apostle is to spearhead a wedge of purpose, which enables the saints to follow and to use their own unique gifts to penetrate into the things of God. The Church is built on the Foundation of apostles and prophets and therefore becomes a habitation of God by the Spirit.38

Apart from a Foundation laid by an architect, there can be no habitation of God by the Spirit. The best that can result is some sort of disjointed, chaotic building known for its meteoric character—that is, it will go up in a blaze of glory and come right down in a puff of smoke. Such “churches” will be reactive and enthusiastic about ideas, but in practice they will constantly have to be propped up. There might be glorious talents, abilities, gifts, and callings among the People of God. But, without the prophetic insight and apostolic character of men who can SEE and build what exists in the unseen realm, the result is chaos.

You need the blueprints and the blueprint reader in front of you to bring the gifts of God together into a compacted, unified structure that goes UP (rather than in scattered directions).

Apart from a living relationship with an architect, even the most skilled plumber, carpenter, or electrician is going to make a mess of things. No matter how good he is, he is going to make a mess if he works apart from the one who can read the blueprints—the architect. The final product will have a pattern of being great one minute and rotten the next. It will be marked by pendulum swings—soaring high and then crashing back down. Continuous cycles of success and failure will frustrate the people. New ideas and programs may seem, for a while, to patch up the holes, but these will turn out to be nothing more than band-aids on cancer. The resulting structure will not be marked by ever-increasing Glory.

God’s Habitation will always be increasing in Glory. It won’t be a sporadic, roller coaster experience. The building of the House of God will be characterized by ever-increasing glory, pain, work, and perspiration. We were cursed with doing our work “by the sweat of the brow.” It is costly to build a House of God, and there is a cross involved. You’ll need quite a bit of timber to start off. And the fact is inescapable that you need the blueprints and the blueprint reader in front of you to bring the gifts of God together into a compacted, unified structure that goes UP (rather than in scattered directions).

Not All the Same

There are different kinds of glory.

As with all of God’s creation,39 even apostles are given to the Church with differing degrees of glory. There are different kinds of glory; it’s true of different kinds of birds and animals and even resurrected bodies :). Well, it’s also true in the Church—specifically of apostolic men. There was only one apostle Paul in the first century—so why would we have to be just like him in order to be an apostle today? Who did what Paul did? Nobody. But there was still twenty-three listed in the New Testament. You don’t have to be like Paul to have the gift of apostle on your life. Nobody else was just like Paul. Even Peter said, “I don’t understand Paul all the time. This man is a little deep. But, you better not twist his words.” Peter said that in 2 Peter 3.

Paul was an evangelist, a teacher, and an apostle.40 But a man could be an apostle without being a teacher or herald. He might be a lousy communicator from a platform, yet be able to “wipe you out” at the dinner table! Remember that an apostle won’t necessarily impress you by his public speaking abilities. Someone who does not have the three distinct gifts that Paul had (who has the gift of apostle but not necessarily that of herald or teacher), may not come across as a great orator. But just because he can’t communicate publicly doesn’t mean he is not an apostle of God. Actually, you may find that he does awesome work around the dinner table or on a four-hour walk. : )

Keep in mind that an apostle won’t necessarily write Scriptures, either. Only five out of twenty-three apostles wrote graphe (writings)41, and a few books were written by men who were not called apostles. Yet, every apostle wrote living letters. And since they impacted peoples’ lives, they were known by their fruit.

Recognized By Their Fruit

“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he, himself, will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you42 are” (1 Corinthians 3:9-17).

“If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 9:2).

“Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You, yourselves, are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody (how “boastful,” huh?). You show that you are a letter from Christ prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3).

“Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?” (1 Corinthians 4:18-21)

There is an unmistakable seal, or mark, of apostolic authenticity. The proof is in their power.

Paul was determined to find out whether all these boastful men who claimed to be apostles really were apostles—he would find out what they were made of. These men were questioning his apostleship and if he needed to come with a whip, he would. But he would find out whether they were just speaking words or if there was power behind what they were doing. There is an unmistakable seal, or mark, of apostolic authenticity. The proof is in their power. The Kingdom of God is not mere talk, but power. Their claims don’t make them apostolic men. Paul thought that it was possible that they were apostles and, if so, there would be a mark. An apostolic man would have a seal of the Holy Spirit of God and the genuineness of divinity flowing out of him. Dunamis, great power, would be manifested.

“I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He isn’t weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:2-8).

Paul told the Corinthians that if they examined themselves and saw Christ within, then that was proof that he had passed the test. If the Spirit of God was dwelling in them richly—if there was genuineness, regeneracy, and the power of God—that was all the credentials he needed. Like Grandma always said, the proof is in the pudding.43

Another thing that not all apostles did was “plant churches” (sorry to burst your bubble). After the sixth chapter of Acts, very few of those that we know were apostles are ever mentioned again. Not many are said to have established Churches like the apostle Paul did (Rom.1:5, 15:17-19). Apollos was called an apostle, and it says that Paul “planted,” but Apollos only “watered” (1Cor.3:6).

Either Servants…or Frauds!

The only kind of leadership is that which destroys principalities and powers—and they can only be destroyed on a cross.

If men who claim to be apostles lord it over God’s heritage, they’re frauds. If they must have a platform, if they must have a name badge, if they must have “yes men” around them, they are frauds. If they clamor for substance, seek money and success, or motivate others through guilt, they are frauds. If they float around unaccountable to other brothers—flaunting themselves, advancing their “ministry” and putting guilt or fear or flattery upon others in order to solicit power or funds—they are frauds. If they are simply “pastors” (unBiblical concept anyway, as it’s practiced today) of a mega-“church,” the fact that they currently have “power” and “popularity” and get to make speeches to adoring crowds and control massive budgets —surely does not make them “apostles” regardless of what they claim for themselves. If they claim to have “planted 400 churches on nine continents in the last 6 months, and two just last weekend,” then they are frauds. This sort of boasting, and the shallowness of what they leave behind (which will only ultimately serve to discourage honest and courageous Saints once reality sets in) is an abomination, and unsustainable in any Holy form. “I’m going to start an Ephesus or Antioch, and I’m going to train me some church planters, because I’m the greatest living christian author.” I am certain that anyone with the smallest amount of discernment can smell that this is a putrid forgery of God’s Precious Gift. Question their lives—don’t permit them to separate themselves in an Ivory Tower of their perceived importance. Watch for their arrogance and unaccountability as confirmation of any counterfeit and unHoly work. Some have the gall to project themselves as “apostles” or “church planters” based on borrowed words on their “internet web site” or because of manufactured fairy tale word-smithing, SOLD to the Saints for profit. (Can you IMAGINE Paul or Peter doing something so greedy and crass?)

“But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many’”(Matthew 20:25-28).

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:5-9).

“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15).

How dare we think we will win any battle by “instruction of the mind”!

And why is all of this so important? Why do we need to cry out to Father for the Real thing, rather than run after every fad that offers cool “church life” and “deep teaching”? Because those things are powerless to deal with satan, which is our only real adversary. The Gates of Hell continue to prevail in those situations, after the “coolness” has worn off. Only those whose backs are scratched and pockets are filled with the Saint’s money can continue to be excited about “this great move of God”—once many see their children go into the world and satan’s clutches, and marriages and lives destroyed by the devil. There is no Power in the “cool church life” world that will not deal with sin, and uses “deep teaching” as a license for sin and blasphemy and make-believe “stories” manufactured from scarce evidence and vivid imaginations—undocumentable make-believe to sell more books and peddle God for their own profit.

Why does this matter? Because there is no Leadership in the Kingdom of God except that which destroys the principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in heavenly realms.44 And the only way principalities and powers are defeated is on a cross. That means laying our lives down for others while they’re yet sinners, before they deserve it or even desire it. That marked the life of Jesus and there is no other kind of leadership in the Kingdom of God.

You need to realize that Godly Leadership is not based on talent or charisma. The only enemies are the “principalities and powers” in the unseen world. They are the ones with whom we’re at war. All other dealings are merely external and in the end don’t mean much. How dare we think we will win any battle by “instruction of the mind”! Defeating the principalities and powers, the spiritual wickedness in heavenly realms, happens on a cross, by the Spirit. One of the ironies of the universe is summed up in this: “‘not by might, not by power, but by my spirit,’ says the Lord.” And His Spirit is pure, holy and good, while our spirits demand equality and rights. Yet, we willingly make ourselves slaves of all and empty ourselves, laying our lives down, even to the point of death on a cross, giving our lives as a ransom for others. Yes, the only kind of leadership is that which destroys principalities and powers—and they can only be destroyed on a cross. That’s the only way.45

Pitfalls of Believing in the Gifts

After weighing what God has to say on the subject, we may conclude that we now “believe in” gifts (whether apostles or some other gift). But just deciding that we believe in a gift does not mean that there will automatically be the manifestation of that gift in our midst. Everything is subject to the purposes and timing of God.

Name It, Claim It

No gift ever came into existence simply because someone “discovered” it.

Time after time, a gift is “discovered” in the Scriptures, and someone exclaims, “Ah, I see a gift that we don’t have. Let’s start having it!” That’s fraudulent! That attitude has resulted in many counterfeits and much fraudulent activity in the world today.46 We must not do that.

This kind of “name it, claim it” approach to the Scriptures makes God out to be some sort of game show host who can’t wait to give you whatever is behind door number two. Just because you can name it doesn’t mean it’s yours. When God gives a gift, there will be no denying that its origin is God. It will have the divine and unmistakable mark of heaven. There won’t be any need to force it or conjure anything up.47 The fact is, no gift ever came into existence simply because someone “discovered” it in the Bible. Let us cry out to the Lord of the Harvest with submissive faith to receive these gifts. God is faithful to respond in His way and in His time.

“They’ve Been Here All Along”

Another pitfall of believing in apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers is the assumption that they’ve always been around, since “the Bible says so.” Actually, Paul never said we would always have those gifts, but he did say we need them until we all reach the unity of the faith and the full stature of Christ.

Someone will argue, “These gifts have always been around; we just haven’t recognized them.” But God gives specific gifts to specific men who have real names and faces. And they will either be recognized as anointed or they will be able to do no miracles among us.

Do you remember what happened when Jesus visited His hometown? Jesus, the ultimate Gift to mankind, could do no miracles in their midst because they had so little faith. The people asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son? He’s a carpenter! His brothers and sisters are with us.” In other words, they considered Him a mere human like everyone else. They failed to recognize the anointing of God on His life. As a result, He could do no miracles among them.

To believe in these gifts does not mean they are currently in existence, but we can cry out to receive these gifts.

In fact, when God’s people lack the submissive faith that is required to receive His Giftedness, He will often take away anointed leadership as a judgment on His household, causing mere children to govern them. A classic example of this is found in Isa.3:1-4, 5:1-7. God had a vineyard, which He cultivated and loved. As gifts, He built it a winepress and a tower. But when He went into the vineyard, He saw that it yielded only bad fruit. The people had been disobedient with the gifts He entrusted to them. They were stiff-necked and obstinate, going on sinning in hopes that grace would abound. Therefore, He took away the prophet, the soothsayer, the captain of rank, the man of skill, the counselor, and all God-given anointed leadership. In response to their disobedience in receiving His gifts, God made mere women and children to rule over them. God made that happen. It was His judgment on the house of Israel. Then people will say to one another, “You have a cloak, you be our leader” (or, in modern times, perhaps they will say, “You’ve been to a Bible college,” or “You’re good with money”) Isa.3:6. That’s a judgment of God. To believe in these gifts does not mean they are currently in existence, but we can cry out to receive these gifts.

Korah’s Rebellion

For the sake of Jesus and His Kingdom, do cry out to the Lord of the Harvest to receive those Gifts in your midst.

It is actually possible to believe in apostles and prophets and yet miss them altogether when they are sent to us. So it was with the Jews when Jesus walked the earth as a man. Most of them believed in the coming Messiah and even prayed for His manifestation. But when God was moved to compassion by their cries for help, they delivered the precious Gift of God over to be crucified—not out of disbelief, but out of jealousy! For Pilate “knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him” (Mt.27:18). The last and deadliest pitfall of believing in the gifts is the tendency to grab onto a concept but reject the man because of your own spiritual pride and ambition.

“For Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand” (Acts 7:24-35).

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt’”(Acts 7:33).

God came down to deliver His people, so He sent Moses. That’s how God does business. He chooses a man. He says, “I come down to deliver you. Now, I choose you.” But when Moses did finally go, how did the people respond?

“This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush” (Acts 7:35).

And so it is today. Without vision for what God is doing, a selfish man will cast off restraint and perish. As Jude’s letter warns, the latter days will be marked by the spirit of Korah.48 “I get all my leading from the Holy Spirit, I don’t need you!” “We have the Holy Spirit, too!” That attitude makes God sick and, if we persist with that kind of heart, He will judge us—as individuals, or as a people, He will judge us!

In conclusion, let me just say again that simply believing in these Gifts doesn’t mean that they are currently in existence. But, for the sake of Jesus and His Kingdom, do cry out to the Lord of the Harvest to receive those Gifts in your midst. Then ask for the eyes to see them and, finally, the heart to submit to whatever God provides.

Worse Yet: Not Believing in His Gifts

You’ll never experience a gift you don’t believe in.

To believe in apostles has no merit in itself, but to not believe in them is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Suppose God gives you a gift that you “don’t believe in.” That gift remains dormant inside you and so you are right—there is no such thing! You’ve created a self-fulfilling prophecy. God can do no miracles in your life. You’ll never know the substance and beauty of that gift in your life because you don’t even recognize the gift as being possible. You’ll never experience a gift you don’t believe in, not in your life and not in the lives of others around you.

The bottom line is that you can’t fan into flame a gift that you don’t accept. Nor will you be able to say, as Paul said of his apostleship, “By the grace (undeserved favor) of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not wasted. No, I worked harder than all the rest—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me”(1Cor.15:10-11).

Even more tragic than individual unbelief is the corporate rejection of Apostolic and Prophetic Giftedness by the Body of Christ as a whole. Such rejection becomes, once again, a self-fulfilling prophecy. Jesus was without honor in His hometown and could therefore do no miracles there. He was rejected by men 2000 years ago, and He is still rejected today whenever the church refuses to submit to His giftedness in people by the Spirit.

Unless you submit to the giftedness of Christ in a person, you can never receive the benefits of that gift.

Not only is God dishonored by this state of affairs, but the Body of Christ is cheated out of its full inheritance. Jesus told the Twelve as He sent them out, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward”(Mt.10:40-41). Receive a prophet, and you’ll receive a prophet’s reward. Receive only a friend, and you’ll receive a friend’s reward. Receive a Bible teacher, and you’ll receive a Bible teacher’s reward. Receive a nice guy, and you’ll receive a nice guy’s reward. Receive apostolic and prophetic men, then you’ll receive foundations—the GLORY of GOD and the HABITATION of GOD by the Spirit!

The point is that unless you submit to the giftedness of Christ in a person, you can never receive the benefits of that gift. The extent to which you receive a gift in someone else will determine the benefits you receive. And to receive a gift implies not only belief, but submission.

Some would PREFER a “sperm donor” rather than a “father” (1Thes.1-2). If they can “bring in someone” to give them some ideas, and then dismiss them on their way, instead of building accountable ongoing relationships (the ONLY Biblical Model), then they can stay in control of their “property” and “space.” But, a true man of God will not be a “sperm donor” easily, since fathering is vastly superior in God’s eyes. One with legitimate Gifts from Heaven will be very reluctant to simply deposit information, when Jesus’ way is impartation. “The LIFE becomes the Light of men.”

Submit to the Gift or you cannot receive the benefits of the Gift. Submission is sometimes hard to swallow because it means that you aren’t “it.” It means that you don’t have all the answers in yourself and that you need the giftedness in someone else. It’s not easy to say, “Hey, I don’t have it. You do. I submit to the Gift of God that’s within you because it’s a piece of Jesus Christ.” Brothers, we need to be totally willing to submit to anything that is Christ. If we see it in our children, our spouses, someone else in the Body, or even a cricket (of all things!), we must gladly submit to the giftedness of Christ. Otherwise, we’ll never know the benefits of that gift.

41“Graphe” is another one of those mistranslated words. It has been translated “Scriptures” but the word itself simply means “writings.” Back

42 In the Greek, this “you” is plural. Can you see why it almost has to be? He flows right into “YOU are God’s temple (not “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” like it says in ch. 6). You are God’s temple, His Holy Building, and don’t you know the Spirit of God dwells in YOU!?Back

43Reread 2Cor.13:2-8 and notice the tremendous cross involved. Paul spoke of being crucified in weakness and then living in weakness so that others might live in glory. And if people wanted to think he failed the test, so be it. That was part of the cost. As Jesus taught, no man is greater than his Master. His only concern was that they look at their own lives to see whether they reflected Jesus. Needless to say, being an apostle is not all fun and games! Back

45One practical application of all this involves finances. An apostle of God will be very fluid in his manner of making a living. But he will never be an “employee of the church” with a salary, car allowance, and three weeks paid vacation. (In addition, he will not have all that is “laid at the apostles’ feet” in his pocket and totally at his personal disposal. A Gifted brother is NOT God, and should not be “in control” of every issue, or feel the need. That is not wisdom or Spiritual Life. Other brothers should handle as much as possible.) Such abuses are not God’s Way, but, in fact, violate many Biblical principles. This arrangement, obviously patterned after the world system, can pollute even the purest heart and amounts to nothing less than robbery in the Kingdom of God! An apostle of Christ will always be willing to “make tents” whenever it becomes physically necessary or seems spiritually best (Acts 20:34; 2Thes.3:8). At times, it would be wrong to wait on tables rather than to be devoted to prayer and service with the Word (Acts 6:2-4). Ideally, by the Lord’s command, a man of God should earn his living by the Gospel (1Cor.9:14). In other words, his needs would be provided by those who willingly offer up material benefit because this man of God has brought increase to them spiritually (Gal.6:6). Clearly, this transaction between lives is far removed from today’s religious world, where “preachers” are hired and fired after “trying out” for the position and are paid for “services rendered” (which usually includes a “competitive benefits package”). From the beginning it was not so! God’s way has always been willing service on both parts. The man of God responds to the calling, grace, and command of God alone (1Cor.9:16-18; Rom.1:14; 1Cor.15:9-10), not to any kind of lust for money or to the whims of those who might “fire” him (as if that were possible!). He’s a debtor. If he does it under compulsion, simply fulfilling his obligation, so be it. If he does it willingly, that’ll be even better reward. But, he’s a debtor. He has no choice, “the grace was given us, therefore we work harder than all the rest.” By the same token, his brothers and sisters are debtors, as well. They are debtors because of the gratitude to him for what he has imparted to them. He has helped change their very lives, so they are indebted and want to provide for his needs in response to God and His purposes on the earth. As we see God’s purposes being fulfilled and lives changing around us, as we notice the fruit of Jesus Christ and His gospel in men’s lives, we respond. We give to Christ by offering our material goods to the men who propagate the Life of Christ among us. This is not an external response just to “keep the church going.” It’s a vertical response to God as we see Him being multiplied in our midst. So we lay down our lives, physically and spiritually, in any way we can. Back

46For example, there are these doctrines of “five-fold ascension gift ministries” and “apostolic teams” that have been commercialized and franchised and misapplied in tragic ways. Back

47For a case in point, read Acts 10:43-48. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.” And the people began to speak in tongues! Peter never said, “You can have the gift of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues. Just raise your hands and start mouthing the words.” That’snot how it happened. Peter was in the middle of telling the crowd about Jesus, and quite unexpectedly, the people just exploded! As far as we can tell, they didn’t know anything about tongues until it happened. It was clearly from God. Back

48“They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?’”(Num.16:3)It was this same line of reasoning that prompted God to strike Miriam with leprosy, and in this case, Korah and his 250 followers were swallowed into the earth. Take a few minutes to go back and read Num.16:1-7, 19-35. These things were written for our learning! Back